Nonrefillable container



Sept. 30, 1947. E.A.PLANAS I 2,428,291

NONREFILLABLE. CONTAINER Filed March 21, 1945 as INVENTOR.

Eduardo Alonso Plcmws Patented Sept. 30, 1947 Application March 21,1945, Sriail'No. 583,865

' In Cuba July 5, 1944 2 Claims.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in anon-refillable container.

More specifically, the present invention relates to that type ofcontainer which cannot befilled except by special equipment to the endthat a manufacturer of a liquid product can sell his product in thecontainer without danger of the container being refilled by another tofraudulently imitate the aforesaid product. The container is madenon-refillable by a device which is characterized by having a non-returnvalve in its spout controlled by gravity and a second non-return valveinwardly thereof controlled by a pendulum. The device must be takenapart to fill, and the device is provided with a seal which must bebroken in order to refill the bottle, thereby denoting that it has beentampered with and filled with a fraudulent liquid if filled by otherthan the manufacturer.

For further comprehension of the invention; and. of the objects andadvantages thereof, reference will be had to the following descriptionand accompanying drawings, and to th'e' -a'ppended claims in which thevarious novel'features of the invention are more particularly set forth.I In the accompanying drawings forming a material part of thisdisclosure Fig. 1 is a fragmentary front view of the device of thepresent invention.

Fig. 2 is an axial section of the device of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an inverted axial section, tilted, of the device showing it inliquid emptying position.

Fig. 4 is an outside tilted perspective view of the device.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the gravity valve of the device.

Fig. 6 is a side view of the pendulum valve of the device, parts beingshown in section.

Fig. 7 is an enlarged section on the line 1-"! of Fig. 2.

Fig. 8 is a section on the line 8-8 of Fig. 2.

Fig 9 is an inverted plan of a part of the pendulum valve.

Fig. 10 is a perspective View of a clamp ring forming part of thedevice.

The non-refillable device, according to this invention, comprises acircular plate In provided with a central port ll. This plate is adaptedto rest on the top of a container l2 and to be secured thereto by aclamp ring I3. Clamp ring I3 is a well known type of split ring having achannelled annulus or groove I4 with a slot H5 at one end and a tongue I6 at the other end. The periphery of the plate i U and the flange I! ofthe container 'fit in the groove 14 and the tongue it extends throughthe slot 15 and is bent, securing the parts together. The clamp ring maybe further sealed by soldering the tongue l6 to the body of the ring, orthe tongue maybe of destructible rnaterial so that once it is 'unbent,it becomes broken and incapable of further use. k g I I Y A collar l8surrounds the port and extends from one side'of the plate" land aspoutflii surrounds the port and extends from the other side of theplate l0. V The spout l9 includes a cylindrical side wall 2|] and a;reduced nozzle 2|. The

spout I9 is partitioned; interiorly b a waiizz having acentralorifice23. A gravity va1ve';24

operates to control orifice 23. This valveiiitjludes a disc '25 adaptedto rest on topoi wall22 over orifice 23, and wingsf26 for guiding'thedisc 25. Thus when the device is in normal position' disc '25 closesorifice 23.

Port n is normally closed by a disc 21 restin on top of wallll0 overport ll. Disc 21 has a depending hook 28 and depending normally fromthis-is a swingable weight or pendulum 2 9' the pendulum including adisc 30 parallel normally to disc 2l but spaced therefrom. Nozzle 2| isclosed. by a cap 3! which may be pulled dff when it is desired to emptythe container.

The operationof; the device is as follows: 7

The manufacturer of a liquid product fills the container l2, forinstance a bottle, with his product, then disposes the devic thereon andapplies the ring 13 as aforesaid. He then sells the container andproduct with the stipulation that the container is to be returned.

The purchaser of the container and product, in order to remove theproduct from the container, need only remove cap 3| from the device andtip the container upside down to an inclined position as shown in Fig.3, whereupon the valve 24 will fall by gravity until it rests againstthe top wall of the spout, and the disc 21 will fall by gravity to theinclined position shown in Fig. 3, the disc 30 also seeking a similarposition with one side of its edge resting against the underside of theplate ID. The pendulum, due to the inclined position of the device, willswing to one side, holding the disc 30 as aforesaid so that neither disc30 nor disc 21 can close port II. The wings 26 prevent valve 24 fromclosing the nozzle 2|. Thus the liquid will pour out of the container.

Should only part of the contents of the container be removed, uponreturning the container and device to normal upright position, the twovalves will close their respective ports and seal the container againstliquid evaporation or contamination, thus supplementing the cap 3!.

It is impossible for the user of the container, usually a privateindividual, to refill the container without destroying the ring l3.Should anyone but the original manufacturer destroy the ring l3, orinjure it, with the purpose in mind of filling the container andfraudulently passing the product ofi as the product of the originalmanufacture, it will be apparent at a glance to a prospective purchaserthat the device has been tampered with and. he will not make thepurchase. 7

When the original manufacturer gets the container returned empty, hedestroys the ring l3 and on refilling the container, puts a similarring, back. Thus the container may be used over and over again.

While I have illustrated and described the preferred embodiments of myinvention, it is to be understood that I do not limit myself .to theprecise constructions herein disclosed andthe right is reserved to allchanges and modifications coming within the scope of the invention asdefined in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by United States Letters Patent is: y

l. A non-refilling bottle closure, comprising in combination acircular'apertured plate adaptedto :be seated on the mouth of thebottle, a cylindrical spout extending from one side of the plate in adirection away from thebottle andfixed thereto and open at the free end,an apertured flange fixed within the spout, a non-apertured disc movablebetween the plate and the flange within the spout, a non-apertured discmovable between the flange and the open end of the spout ,Within thespout, said second non apertured disc being provided with meansforspacing it from,

flange fixedly within the spout, a non-apertured valve disc movablebetween the plate and the fiange within the spout, a non-apertured valvedisc movable between the flange and the free open end of the spoutwithin the spout, said second named valve disc being provided with meansfor spacing it from the free end of the spout,

. apendulum weight movably suspended from the first named valve disc andextending away from the spout, a third disc associated with the pendulumweight and lmounted thereon closely adjacent the apertured plate,whereby upon tilting of the ,bottle, said first named valve disc andsaid last named disc will engage the apertured valve plates fromopposite sides and at diametrically spaced points, saidspout, aperturedplate and discs forming a self-contained assembly the free end of thespout, a pendulum weight movably suspended from the first namednonapertured disc and extending away from the spout, a third discassociated with said pendulum weight and mounted thereon closelyadjacent the apertured plate, wherebyupon tilting of the bottle, saidfirst non-apertured disc and said last non-apertured disc will engagethe apertured plate fromopposite sides and at diametrically adaptedvtobe supported on the mouth of the bottle, and a sealingbandcircumferentiallyengaging themouth and'the apertured plate and providedwith a tongue projected through a slot in said band when said band isapplied circumferentially to said plate and mouth.

EDUARDO ALONSO' PLANAS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

I UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,318,382 Del Llano May 4, 1943770,801 George et a1 Sept. 27, 1904 2,082,267 Stattmann June 1, 19372,366,864 Marino Jan. 9, 1945 982,506 Lasher et a1. Jan. 24, 19111,060,052 Winkler Apr. 29,1913

